1994–95 NBA season
The 1994–95 NBA season was the 49th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the Orlando Magic 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals to repeat as champions. Notable occurrences *The Houston Rockets became the lowest seeded team to ever win the NBA Finals, winning as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. *The 1995 NBA All-Star Game was played at America West Arena (now known as US Airways Center) in Phoenix, Arizona, with the West defeating the East 139–112. Mitch Richmond of the Sacramento Kings was named the game's MVP (Most Valuable Player). *Midway through the season, Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls after a failed attempt at a minor-league baseball career. His announcement consisted of a two-word fax: "I'm Back". Since the Bulls had already retired his number 23, he returned wearing number 45. However, he changed back to 23 during the playoffs. *An era came to an end as the Boston Celtics played their final season at the historic Boston Garden. *The Portland Trail Blazers played their final season at Memorial Coliseum. *The Chicago Bulls played their first game at the United Center. *The Cleveland Cavaliers played their first game at Gund Arena (now known as Quicken Loans Arena). *Due to extensive renovations to the Seattle Center Coliseum (now known as KeyArena), the Seattle SuperSonics played their home games at the Tacoma Dome, in nearby Tacoma, Washington. *Grant Hill became the first rookie in professional sports to lead fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game. *The Orlando Magic became the first of the four late-1980s expansion franchises to reach the NBA Finals. They were swept in four straight games by the defending-champion Houston Rockets. *Lenny Wilkens passed Red Auerbach to become the NBA's all-time leader in wins, which stood for 15 years. *In an effort to increase scoring, the NBA's competition committee voted to shorten the three-point field goal line to a uniform 22 feet around the basket beginning this season and lasting through the 1996-97 NBA season.1 Orlando Magic forward Dennis Scott set a then-single season record for most three-pointers made with 267 during the 1995-96 NBA season (Later surpassed by Ray Allen, who notched 269 three-pointers in the 2005–06 NBA season).2 The NBA would revert back to its original three-point field goal parameters of 23 feet, 9 inches (22 feet at the corners) at the start of the 1997-98 NBA season.3 *The Western Conference Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets was notable for the lack of home team success. The home team lost each of the first 5 games of the series, with the Rockets finally breaking through with a home win in Game 6. Final standings Eastern Conference | valign="top" width="50%"| |} Western Conference | valign="top" width="50%"| |} C''' - NBA Champions Statistics leaders NBA awards *'''Most Valuable Player: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs *'Rookies of the Year:' Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks and Grant Hill, Detroit Pistons *'Defensive Player of the Year:' Dikembe Mutombo, Denver Nuggets *'Sixth Man of the Year:' Anthony Mason, New York Knicks *'Most Improved Player:' Dana Barros, Philadelphia 76ers *'Coach of the Year:' Del Harris, Los Angeles Lakers *'All-NBA First Team:' **F - Karl Malone, Utah Jazz **F - Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls **C - David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs **G - John Stockton, Utah Jazz **G - Anfernee Hardaway, Orlando Magic *'All-NBA Second Team:' **F - Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns **F - Shawn Kemp, Seattle SuperSonics **C - Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando Magic **G - Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics **G - Mitch Richmond, Sacramento Kings *'All-NBA Third Team:' **F - Detlef Schrempf, Seattle SuperSonics **F - Dennis Rodman, San Antonio Spurs **C - Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets **G - Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers **G - Clyde Drexler, Houston Rockets *'NBA All-Defensive First Team:' **F - Dennis Rodman, San Antonio Spurs **F - Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls **C - David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs **G - Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics **G - Mookie Blaylock, Atlanta Hawks *'NBA All-Defensive Second Team:' **F - Derrick McKey, Indiana Pacers **F - Horace Grant, Orlando Magic **C - Dikembe Mutombo, Denver Nuggets **G - Nate McMillan, Seattle SuperSonics **G - John Stockton, Utah Jazz *'All-NBA Rookie First Team:' **Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks **Grant Hill, Detroit Pistons **Eddie Jones, Los Angeles Lakers **Brian Grant, Sacramento Kings **Glenn Robinson, Milwaukee Bucks *'All-NBA Rookie Second Team:' **Juwan Howard, Washington Bullets **Donyell Marshall, Minnesota Timberwolves **Eric Montross, Boston Celtics **Wesley Person, Phoenix Suns **Jalen Rose, Indiana Pacers **Sharone Wright, Philadelphia 76ers Category:NBA season